The Criterion Collection

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by bergman864

Everything but the Fellini set has been discounted it seems.

It has just been discounted.

[Central IL Film Fan]

I picked these up on Amazon. Bruce Lee is a gift. I got my copy last sale.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

Pretty livid with Barnes and Noble not honoring my 10% discount after all these years of being a member. I displayed my tattered card to the store manager and explained that the bi-annual sales are literally the only reason I renew my membership every year as opposed to participating in the Criterion flash promotions or ordering through Amazon.

He relented and "tried" to apply the discount, but the screen wouldn't let him and I wasn't going to rake him over the coals for a manual override.

I was given a number for corporate to call, but I doubt that's going to result in a damn thing. Disgusting, IMO, for a brick and mortar chain on the verge of obsolescence. Instead of walking out with 7 (for now), I rang up 2. Thus ends splurging and my relationship with B&N.

There's the rub. The new owners winding down member benefits may be a precursor to eliminating membership altogether. The company was in trouble long before the pandemic, so presumably this is all part of the survival strategy. Frustrating for current members, but more broadly, one can only hope the company survives and continues to offer semi-annual 50% events.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

It has just been discounted.

And how sweet it is (combined with Prime Rewards Card 5%), La Dolce Cinema:

[spudeus]

Originally Posted by Reddington

There's the rub. The new owners winding down member benefits may be a precursor to eliminating membership altogether. The company was in trouble long before the pandemic, so presumably this is all part of the survival strategy. Frustrating for current members, but more broadly, one can only hope the company survives and continues to offer semi-annual 50% events.

Hm, after years of pestering I finally became a B&N member in 2018 (and am due for renewal). But I have noticed no special offers or coupon booklets from them throughout 2020. . .at this point it looks like that annual fee is just a donation?

Anyway, went to my local store and picked up:



(I know this reads like a punchline, but honestly those were the three titles I brought home!)

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

It has just been discounted.

Just placed a back-up order in case I can't on B&N. I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

[SlickDamian]

So B&N aren't shipping Criterions to Canada? Wow, I've been partaking in the sale for many years and this has never happened. How disappointing.

[Slyth66]

It's been a while since I've picked up some Criterion Releases. I think I went a bit overboard on Amazon....

[DandyDancing]

We won!!

[jshaide]

I used to get a little annoyed when Amazon would price match the BN sale (and this probably comes from working at BN for two years and this being kind of a major sale for us), but if they aren't going to even try to be competitive I'm pretty much like "have at it" now.

[randian]

Originally Posted by jshaide

I used to get a little annoyed when Amazon would price match the BN sale (and this probably comes from working at BN for two years and this being kind of a major sale for us), but if they aren't going to even try to be competitive I'm pretty much like "have at it" now.

Amazon's "price match" historically meant "B&N's price + $2.99 shipping", as if people shopping the B&N sale only bought singles. Hilariously uncompetitive. This is the first time Amazon has properly price-matched, without the stupid $2.99 surcharge.

[I*heart*Criterion]

Just a heads up to keep checking the new reductions at Amazon, not only do some of them have discount coupons but they are also a part of the 3 for 2 sale (I just got a couple of orders for 3 blu-rays for a little over $37 each)

[HallowedSZ]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

So just to be clear, B&N is not giving the 10% membership discount for in-store purchases?

I can confirm this. I just got back from my local B&N and the membership discount no longer applies to Criterion. I was rung up by a guy that has worked there forever who used to apply both my discount AND manually override my 25% off coupons for me when he wasn't supposed to. He told me that the decision for the membership discount not applying anymore was made by Criterion and NOT B&N. B&N will lose a ton of business because of this. The only reason I have the membership was because of Criterion, and even then it sometimes wasn't worth it if I didn't buy at least 12 titles a year or a big boxset. I will now cancel my membership and just order from Amazon since they seem to be price matching pretty well now plus with these coupons a lot of titles are $15-$18.

[bergman864]

I'll post about the big one later in the month. I ordered through Amazon since its a few dollars cheaper (shipping/tax negligible).



I'm set for this sale. I'll try to tackle my Wishlist in February.

[HallowedSZ]

Yeah, these coupons on Amazon are pretty sick. $18 off coupon on Bergman set for instance.

[drownsoda]

This weekend's Criterion purchases; will probably go back once more before the sale ends at the end of the month:




(Also, why hasn't Criterion issued White Dog on Blu-ray yet? It's the only Sam Fuller title in their catalogue that is DVD-only).

[edmoney]

I know it's been mentioned several times in the past that a Criterion title isn't truly out of print unless the listing on the Criterion website says it's "OUT of PRINT" (e.g. Last Year at Marienbad). But what's the difference between a status of "BACK-ORDER" (e.g. Blow Out) and "CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE" (e.g. The Red Shoes or By Brakhage)? By Brakhage in particular seems to have been unavailable for a long time.

[HallowedSZ]

Originally Posted by edmoney

I know it's been mentioned several times in the past that a Criterion title isn't truly out of print unless the listing on the Criterion website says it's "OUT of PRINT" (e.g. Last Year at Marienbad). But what's the difference between a status of "BACK-ORDER" (e.g. Blow Out) and "CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE" (e.g. The Red Shoes or By Brakhage)? By Brakhage in particular seems to have been unavailable for a long time.

Back Order means they are sold out and are awaiting more to be pressed and shipped to them. Currently Unavailable most likely means there is some sort of hold up with pressing more copies. For instance, the Zatoichi boxset was "Currently Unavailable" for AT LEAST 6 months and is now currently back in stock.

[Cholly]

Originally Posted by edmoney

I know it's been mentioned several times in the past that a Criterion title isn't truly out of print unless the listing on the Criterion website says it's "OUT of PRINT" (e.g. Last Year at Marienbad). But what's the difference between a status of "BACK-ORDER" (e.g. Blow Out) and "CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE" (e.g. The Red Shoes or By Brakhage)? By Brakhage in particular seems to have been unavailable for a long time.

backorder means they're just waiting for more stock to arrive in their warehouse, currently unavailable means they are waiting to print another batch entirely.

[Blu Balls]

Picked up Silence of the Lambs and Videodrome through Amazon. I had some reward points which knocked my total down to $31.17.
Would have been nice to watch these a couple of weeks ago for Halloween season, but they are nice additions to my collection, none the less.